


A change can do you good

by killerweasel



Series: A Change Can Do You Good [1]
Category: Angel: the Series, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 04:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/657957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When things don't go as planned, the outcome is unpredictable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A change can do you good

Title: A change can do you good  
Fandom: _Angel/Sherlock_  
Characters: Lindsey McDonald, Sherlock Holmes  
Word Count: 2000  
Rating: PG-13  
A/N: AU after _Sherlock's The Reichenbach Fall_ and _Angel's Not Fade Away_  
Warnings: n/a  
Summary: When things don't go as planned, the outcome is unpredictable.

“You just had to point out how stupid he was, didn’t you, Sherlock?” I heard him mutter something that didn’t make any sense. “I warned you, didn’t I? I specifically said that you had to act like a normal, rational, human being and not yourself or we were going to have an issue. And yet, you felt the need to point out that he was a moron. Everyone knows he’s a damn moron. His minions know it, his brother knows it, and I think even his mother knows it. The only one who doesn’t seem to know it is him. Well, he certainly knows now, doesn’t he?”

I heard raised voices in the distance and picked up my pace, half dragging my companion through the back alley. The blood on his coat looked almost black in the moonlight. “Not only did you point out that he was a moron, but you pointed it out in ten different ways. Normally, someone would shut the hell up when the person they were mocking suddenly grew three inches, turned green, and produced fangs, but not you. Oh no, you kept right on going.”

There was a door on the right. I tried the knob and it actually turned. I pulled him into the building with me, closing the door behind us. Whatever the store used to be, it was empty right now. I set him on the floor and then shoved a couple of things up against the door with the hopes that the minions couldn’t smell us in here.

“You don’t screw around with demons. Most of them are strong enough to tear your arm off and beat you to death with it.” I crouched down on the floor. “A drazil’s claws are four inches long. You’re lucky he didn’t rip your guts out.” I gently peeled the coat away from his body before doing the same with his shirt. “Since you’re supposed to be dead right now, I can’t exactly drag you to a hospital.”

“Lindsey, shut up.” He glared at me. “Just fix it.”

“‘Just fix it’?” I shrugged out of my coat before peeling off my t-shirt. Pressing the shirt against the gashes in his chest made him hiss in pain. “You need stitches and I don’t exactly have a needle and thread on me, Sherlock.”

“Go look in the office. There should be a sink and someone always leaves things in desks. Make yourself useful and stop being tedious.” He placed his hand against the shirt. “At least we got the information you promised.”

I rolled my eyes. “You are a royal pain in the ass.” Getting to my feet, I looked towards the doorway. “Don’t take your hand off of that and if you start to feel odd, holler. I don’t know if he managed to get some of the venom in your system. If you’re infected, we have a whole new set of weird to deal with.”

Sherlock was right, as usual. I managed to find a sewing kit inside of one of the desks. The sink in the break room still worked so now I had something to clean the wounds with before I stitched them closed. I strained my ears for the sound of the minions, but heard nothing. Maybe we were safe.

When I got back, Sherlock’s normally pale features had taken on the same shade as a corpse. My t-shirt was soaked in blood. “This is going to hurt, but I do know how to do simple stitches.”

“When you said ‘feel odd’, what exactly did you mean?”

“Drazil demons aren’t born. You get more by infecting humans or other demons with venom and over a few hours, their bodies change. There’s a cure, but only if you get it into the system within three hours of being attacked.” I peeled back the shirt and sucked in a breath. “You’re infected, Sherlock.”

A pattern of black and dark green scales was slowly spreading out from the gashes. I cleaned the wounds as best as I could with the water before I carefully began to stitch them closed. Sherlock didn’t make any noises other than the occasional grunt. I think he was too distracted by the changes to his skin.

By the time I was finished, it had spread from the wounds to his left arm and was working its way towards his hand. Sherlock touched his arm with a finger. “I feel like the lizard I used to have when I was a child.”

“I know a guy who might have an antidote. He owes me a favor.” I scratched my head. “Did you even want the antidote? As a drazil, you’d be faster and stronger than a human, though you’d end up looking like a lizard until you figured out how to use the chameleon factor. You’ll lose that hair of yours though.”

I could see him thinking it over. He was probably weighing all the pros and cons, even the ones most people would think about, and coming to a conclusion far faster than a regular person could. Sherlock flexed his hand and a tiny smile crossed his lips as his fingernails shifted into claws. “This could be useful.”

“It is totally up to you. If you decide to go drazil, I am not going to be the one who tells your brother what happened. He made me swear that I would keep you out of dangerous situations and that didn’t exactly go to plan.” Which hadn’t been my fault at all, but I somehow doubted Mycroft Holmes would see it that way.

“I’ll talk to my brother.” He rotated his arm slowly. “You did help me get the information on Moran’s whereabouts, which means you fulfilled your end of the bargain. He can’t fault you for that. As for the ‘dangerous situation’ part, I knew what I was saying was going to enrage him. I counted on it. Anger causes people, and apparently demons, to say things they would normally keep to themselves, such as where Moriarty’s right hand is.”

“You seriously want to become a demon?” His entire left arm had changed now. I had to admit, the scales looked pretty nice.

“Lindsey, you’re an Undead American who used to work with demons, vampires, and other things on a regular basis. Surely this can’t seem strange.” Sherlock retracted his claws. “Will I still be able to play the violin?”

I shrugged. “Probably, but you might want to practice on something slightly less expensive until you have total control over your claws.”

“How did my brother get you to agree to assist me, anyway? You never told me.” Sherlock leaned back against the wall. He was naked from the waist up and watching his body slowly change color.

“Haven’t you deduced it by now?” I sat down across from him. I’d never actually seen a full transformation before. It was rather interesting to watch.

“I have, but I want confirmation.” He gave me what I considered his ‘real’ smile.

I scratched at the scars on my chest. “From what I understand, Mycroft got my name during one of Moriarty’s torture sessions. When I worked for Wolfram and Hart, I was at the London branch for a few months and Moriarty was one of the clients I dealt with. I was his go-between for a couple of the demon clans. I’m pretty sure he could actually speak their language himself, but the firm wanted me to handle the talks. The drazil we chatted with earlier used to get him weapons from Russia.”

Sherlock kicked off his shoes and removed his socks. His left foot was now covered with scales and I could see that his toenails were slowly turning to claws. “Are the toe claws retractable?”

“They should be.”

“Good. Otherwise I am going to end up ruining quite a few socks.” He chuckled softly. “You have no idea what this feels like, Lindsey. It doesn’t hurt, but I can feel parts of me shifting and changing. It is absolutely fascinating.”

“Anyway, your brother’s goons tracked me down in Paris two months ago. I’d just finished my contract with the firm and was finally able to do whatever I wanted.” I’d made very sure to change some of the parts of my contract so I’d be able to get away from them for good. The Partners hadn’t exactly been thrilled, but they rarely went against one of their own contracts. “He told me what you were doing and since I didn’t have anything better to do, I said I’d help you out with the demon part of your plan. You did know he was a demon before we went there, right?”

“I suspected there was something unusual about him, I just couldn’t figure out what it was.”

“Once you get Moran, then what are you going to do?” I’d already decided that I was going to come with him to see this to the end. He wasn’t used to being nonhuman and it might cause him issues in the near future.

“When this is over, I’m going back to London. I’m going home.” Sherlock ran his fingers through his hair and clumps of it came out. He started at it for a moment before repeating the motion. “Moran’s the last.”

“I saw my siblings when my contract ended. I had to explain to each one of them that the reports of my death hadn’t been true. I left out the part where I’m going to be this way for the rest of eternity. I figure knowing I’m alive is enough of a shock.” I sighed. “Some people shouldn’t know about the nonhuman side of things. They can’t handle it. They refuse to believe what they see with their own eyes. It drives them mad.”

“What if he hates me?”

“Who? Your brother? I didn’t think you two got along very well in the first place.”

“Not Mycroft.” Sherlock smacked his hand on the floor. “John. I did this for him, for all of them. They’ll understand, won’t they? They’ll understand that I had to do this to keep them safe.”

I stared at him for a moment. For someone who walked around like he didn’t give a crap about what others thought, apparently the opinions of a select few did matter. “I can’t tell you how they’re going to react because I’m not them. I barely know you and half the time I want to strangle your annoying ass.” That earned me a tiny smile. “All I can say is it might take time for them to get over it. You’re probably going to get screamed at, have things tossed at your head, and you might even get punched. They could be angry for quite some time. They’ll either get over it or they won’t. They think you’re dead, Sherlock. They mourned you, they buried you. They had to keep living.”

“I’m not the same man I was.” I knew he wasn’t just talking about the whole demon thing. “I’ve done things I never thought I would do.”

“Just... ease into it. However you would normally deal with something, you might want to not do that. You don’t exactly have the best personality in the world and how you act or speak might make things worse.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. “How soon can we get on the move again?”

“We need to wait until you’ve finished changing. Then you’re going to want to eat something.” He made a rude noise. “Seriously, you need to eat something. Your metabolism is going to be completely different and you need protein to balance yourself out. After that, we can go get Moran.”

“Fine.” He was quiet for a few minutes. “Tell me everything you know about drazil demons and where I can find more information.”

I made myself comfortable and began to speak. Whatever happened next, I knew it wouldn’t be boring.


End file.
